Cuba Cross Over 2014 - Varadero - Matanzas -Havana | Friday, March 7 - 27km

Our first destination is Matanzas, the capital of the province of the same name. There you will find the fourth largest port for sugar export in the world. Matanzas is considered one of the most important industrial cities in Cuba. After a break we drive along the Yumurí Valley and continue our trip to Havana through amazing countryside. Accommodation at the Hotel Plaza. Daily stage: ca. 45 km (breakfast, dinner) - Trip Notes

Schneckers at breakfast! After which we waved goodbye to Regula and Teddy and bussed to Matanzas for a ride through town to the lookout over the valley and then through some backroads in rough condition with    some quite steep hills.

 

 

 

We crossed paths with an old goat herder and he was very grateful to receive some small change and a radio which Jeannette and Tino pulled out of their bag of goodies.

 

We continued on to our final stop at Mirador de Bacunayagua where I stripped my pedals and odometer from the bike. After all of the bikes were on the bus we walked over to the lookout where the gang enjoyed pina coladas and I had a piñata.

 

 

 

Back on the bus for the ride into Havana, we passed by the Havana Club rum factory, saw some oil pumps and the familiar (from Mexico) cactus plants which Ricardo told us are used for making rope and industrial detergent! 

 

 

We checked in to the Plaza Hotel and headed out at 730pm for our final group dinner at a restaurant in the old city. We had a fixed menu, which was OK, but other patrons of the restaurant enjoyed lobster. At the end of the meal, Tino and Jeanette presented Ricardo and Rudi with some gifts, and their tips, and we returned to the hotel for a final hug and goodbye to our guide and driver.